A journey into more of life's inspiration and my creative endeavors. And yes a lot of running!

Tapering

10/03/2017

It's been over a year and a half since I wrote my last blog entry. That was a race report on Music City Trail Ultra, 2016. I have run over 10 races since then; 8 of them being on trail; 7 of them ultra distances(beyond 26.2 miles). My life has gotten crazy hectic with a 9 & 11 year old, a Dog, Fish, Hemit Crabs, work; managing all of my training, mixed in with a lot of other overwhelming life stresses. I had to let go of blogging for my sanity, and to focus on the most important things. I do miss writing; even if I was never very good at it. I miss the outlet it gives me to process my thought, set future goals, and have written account of memories. A lot of races can become a blur if you are racing a lot, and it's easy to lose some important details of the long hours spent out there in the woods with trail running. After Music City Trail Ultra I ran a PR road marathon at The St. Jude Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon.

One week after I ran my first road Ultra; Strolling Jim 40 miler; put on by the well known devilish race director and creator of The Barkley Marathon, Laz. (If you don't know anything about The Barkley Marathons, go look it up; "Marathon" is a somewhat loose word for what the race actually is). Strolling Jim; 40 Miles on road with the heat; that just hurts people! Especially one week after a hilly road marathon PR. I finished humbled.

I started training under a coach for the first time around this time. I had an amazing season of races lined up including a return to my favorite and first ultra; StumpJump 50k, and The Barkley Fall Classic 50k "ish". Training was going well and I felt fast, fit, and strong. Unfortunately I developed my first stress fracture over the summer before I could put my strength to the test at my fall races. I was devastated that at my strongest I would never get that chance to put my body, and mind to the test.

The doctor I saw for my injury told me I should,"Reconsider Distance Racing"...since I wasn't an Elite. I was highly offended. I don't know about you, but I dislike being told no. I don't give up easy. I would later go on to take his advice...and shove it. I would come back stronger, and smarter. I would learn what I did wrong, and strengthen my weaknesses. As soon as I learned about my stress fracture, I went out and bought a road bike, and immediately learned to ride clipped in. My second ride was a group ride around the hilly road of our local park, Percy Warner. I was all in, even if I was back of the pack because I knew nothing other then grit. I didn't give up. I learned fast and eventually worked my way up. My longest ride was 60 miles. I also signed up for a recap in swim lessons; since my swimming was rusty, and needed a lot of work to just stay a float. I swam, and rode my heart out. It was actually quite fun learning about these new sports; giving me something to take my mind off of not running. But I still missed running the most. I made new friends but missed my running friends too. It was hard watching results of races posted and all the photos of everyone having fun. But I stayed positive.

My stress fracture healed quicker then the doctor expected. I was back running around November. I raced my first race back in January at The Cloudland Canyon 1/2 Marathon.

(Photo by Greg Gelmis; We Run Race Photos LLC)

Even before my first run back I was trying to decided on future race schedule for the next year; because as trail runners know; races are small and usually fill up fast. You have to start thinking about next years races while you are waiting on Santa to pop down the chimney the year before. My friend Joshua was going to sign up for his first 100 miler; Zion 100 in Utah in April. After seeing the beautiful photos, and not wanting to miss out on the chance to run our first 100 at the same time I committed to 100 miles before I was even back running. I decided I wanted to do a 100 so bad because I had been saying "One Day" for quite a while. I had thought what if I kept waiting for that "One Day" to come and I wasn't physically able, or the responsibilities in my life wouldn't allow it. No more waiting. 100 miles here we come! We convinced my other best friend Annapurna the same thing; she had to do her first 100 with us! The trio was in! I ran 3 races as training runs leading up to Zion 100; Mountain Mist 50, Nashville Running Company's Dry Creek Trail race Marathon, and Land Between The Lakes 50 miler. I made a change in coaches during that time to go with a local coach who could spend more time with me on details and training form etc.

Hours and miles I pouring into training. I trained at all hours of the day, all weather.

There was that crazy night run where we ran all through the night from midnight to sunrise in the freezing cold!

Training went great and before we knew it months ticked away and it was Zion time. My family; my husband Russ, and my two kids; Jayson and Ella made it a long road trip out to Utah traveling the whole week prior and stopping at places like New Mexico, Flagstaff Arizona, and the Grand Canyon.

The furthest I have ever traveled for a race; another reason it made this race so memorable. All three of us finished our first 100 miler! Not without the many struggles that come with that distance. I finished after terrible stomach issues the next morning with a time of 30:38:07. 14th female, 88th overall.

(2 photos above by Jobie Williams)

While there was nothing better then just the great task completed of just FINISHING my first 100, I knew I had more in me. I made a goal right away to choose another 100 mile race later in the year. Time to give 100 miles another go after applying all of my new lessons learned. Pinhoti 100 in Alabama was my next goal race. So here I am now months and miles later; 5 weeks out from my second 100 miler. I have since recently raced two races as training runs leading up to my 100; Rebecca Mountain 50, and The Georgia Jewel 35.

12/04/2014

I am two days out from my next marathon, St. Jude Memphis Marathon. My friend Shyla shared this photo with me last night and it was PERFECT!

The carb-loading has begun.

Breakfast:

Lunch:

While watching me some "So You Think You Can Dance?".

Dinner:

Dessert:

Guess who stole the wisk!

I was browsing the internet for running/motivational videos and I found a bunch of goodies. If this first one doesn't motivate you to get out there and run, I don't know what will.

Science of Marathon Running. Great Video!

How bad do you want it? (Success). This one gets me. Do you want it bad enough? Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Sometimes I don't think we SHOW in our actions how much we want it. We talk about it but we don't follow through. I will admit I am one of those people when it comes to cross-training as I should. I know it will make me stronger, I know it will make me a better runner but when push comes to shove I want to hand that part off. I have a LOT of excuses in this area. Well if I want to be a better, more rounded runner, I know what I need to do, so clearly I need to start pushing in this area.

My friend Shyla sent this video to me a few weeks ago and I have already watched it 3 times. Its a longer video but a great one, esp of you love trails. This video follows Nike Trail Runner, Sally Mcrae and her journey of qualifying for Western States 100. This girl, she amazes me! Her drive and gratefulness, and determination to never give up. The way her friends believe in and support her is the most touching thing to watch(warning tear jearker at the end!).

Spirit Of The Marathon-Official Trailer. If you haven't seen the movie yet, go watch it now! This was the first running movie I remember watching in awe that people could actually run 26.2 miles. I remember thinking hmm I wondering if I could actually do that. Well with lots of hard work that dream became a reality guys!

Here is Spirit Of The Marathon II

Just get out there and do it!

I have a bunch of trail running videos I want to share with you but I will save that for another post.

I normally take it super easy the week before a race, but I still run. I would have probably done 2-3 more runs after Saturday's long run. Probably two easy 4 milers and a 2-3 mile shakeout run two days before the race. But between battling a cold from last week into this week and dealing with a few aches, one in my ankle(not my previously injured one), and one in my hip, I decided to lay extra low this week. I am hoping I don't regret this decision in feeling blah from SO much rest. But heres the thing, after my 50k I took the whole week off other then a shake-out run two days out from my 1/2 marathon to see how my legs were feeling, and I PR'ed at that 1/2, The Murfreesburo middle 1/2, 2013. So one week after a 50k I PR'ed. Yeah doesn't seem right. I went into that race feeling rested and strong. So I am going to attempt it again and see what happens.

The last two weeks before you race there really is nothing you can do to improve your race as far as running goes. You have already done the work and these last two weeks are about rest and recovery, letting your muscles fuel back up to get ready for the big push. I found this great video describing what happens during "taper time".

So since I have nothing much to do other then sit on my behind I decided to do my second favorite hobby,

baking!

Churro Cheesecake Squares

Skillet Cornbread

And Confetti Cornbread Salad

I will be posting all 3 recipes soon so keep a look out for them here on upcoming posts!

I also have a batch of crockpot ham & bean soup simmering, using up the rest of the Thanksgiving ham. Super easy recipe.

Love this cd!

If you have never heard Pentatonix you must go listen to their music now! Beautiful and I love that they have violin in their songs. For those of you who don't know I played violin years ago. I was never very good and didn't continue on with it, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the violin!!! I still have my 2 violins because I can't bear to part with them. They probably will get handed down to my kids eventually if they decide to play someday. One of them is this beautiful blue sparkly electronic one!

Feeling better from my cold but I am still taking my goodies to keep it at bay.

Honey and fresh garlic cloves. Yeah I know no one wants to be around me right now. I'm especially sorry to my husband.

We have not put up our Christmas decorations yet. It will probably be after the big race this weekend is over. I found this on Facebook. My Ella would go head over heals for this tree. Ok so would I.

Feeling slightly better today then I was yesterday with this head cold thing going on so hopefully it helped and I am on the upside of recovery.

This mornings 12 mile run was a nice hilly one out at Percy Warner with my friends Wade and Karl whom I met at the Fleet Feet's Summer Trail Mixer program this summer. Those friends introduced me to StumpJump where I ran my first trail race in 2012, I did the 11 miler that year. I have attended the free trail mixer group the past 3 summers and have met some great friends out there. So happy I decided to venture into trail running. I have had some great experiences out there on the trails and I love the change from road racing.

While Training for my 50k I spent hours upon hours out at Percy Warner on the trails. I trained mostly on my own during that time. Ah painful but good memories, Stumpjump 50k 2013.

We decided not to do trails today since I am tapering and one week out from my marathon, so we hit the roads instead and took it nice and easy. I have been dealing with a little ankle soreness and hip pain since last week. Neither a big deal. I have been icing everyday and hoping that will go away this week with the extra rest. Because we all know that even the slightness soreness can turn into a nightmare in a race.

Now that my long run is done I just have some short runs beginning of this week and then resting and carb loading for next Saturdays big race, St. Jude Memphis Marathon.

I Re-Pieced my upper ear today since it had closed up. Just iced it up and bam stuck that sucker in. It really didn't hurt that much but the thought of piering my skin grosses me out more then the pain. Pain is beauty they say. Well it does look pretty good.

This mama didn't feel like cooking tonight so it was family favorite, Chinese buffet.

On to Taper week. Tapering is hard.

I need to fill my free time with baking cute things like this!

And eating delish things like these! (sorry not sorry)

Clearly I will spend way too much time on Pinterest while tapering. I am a Pinterest Addict. What does that say about me?

11/29/2014

Friday morning I woke up with 0% energy. I pretty much sat around in my pajamas until 11am and then finally decided I had to get stuff done for the day.

Spark to the rescuse!

I feel like I have been coming down with something for the past week because my energy levels were wiped but yet I didn't have any symptoms other then fatigue and a little bit of a scratchy throat. Its just enough to drive you crazy. And just enough to make me stress with my marathon a week away.

I was suppose to run 6 miles but that wasn't happening so I opted for elliptical at home and got 1 hour in watching tv. The good thing is that I am tapering now so I am not missing out on any vital runs that might make or break me. These last 2 weeks are all about rest and recovery anyways, but this is not the kind of rest I wanted to be taking. Kids are still on Thanksgiving break so this is a bummer I am all blah.

By later in the afternoon I decided we all needed to get out of the house for our own sanity so we stopped by The Juice Bar

and I got me a Sniffle Stopper Shot: lemon & ginger juice, OnGuard essential oil blend, cayenne. Let me tell you it was a shock to my throat! Whew! Talk about burn baby burn! But I'm willing to try anything to kick this cold or whatever is starting.

Stopped by Game Stop to pick the kids up some new games to give us something to do while we sit around the house. We played Just Dance 2015 at my family's over Thanksgiving and so that's one we had in mind to look for. We ended up getting it for another $15 off since it was Black Friday!

And I didn't even have to camp-out the night before or wake up before the butt-crack of dawn to get the deal!!!! SCORE! And the Project Runway one Ella wanted was marked at $4.99 but rang up for $1.99!!! Oh Yea! Saving mama money! Paid more for Jayson's pre-owned Super Smash Bros. Brawl then any of the others but he has been eyeing that one for like a year.

Friday night is Family Movie Night in our house so we chilled while watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling even worse then Saturday this time I was sure it was a -0% energy. When I don't want coffee something is always wrong. It was time for the back-up sadly.

So I opted for a green smoothie instead of coffee and the kids happily drank some too. The trick to getting them to drink it is I call it a "Green Monster" Smoothie and I put extra apple and banana in theirs.

The rest of the morning consisted of video game playing and laying on the couch listening to video games. But today I am ok with that.

Lunch: Chicken noodle soup and OJ, more cold fighting remedies.

And still being in my PJ's at 1pm, I'm sure that's also one.

So today marks the countdown: 7 days until St. Jude Memphis Marathon.

7 days and fighting a cold, not what I hoped for. But I have a week to kick this so this better go away FAST!

I was able to raise beyond my original goal which fills my heart with joy knowing we can help these familes even more! St. Jude families NEVER receive a bill for treatment, housing, travel, or food, all because of these donations.

This family touched my heart. Its so hard seeing a family who has been through SO much with their child. At less then 72 hours old baby Harper had her first surgery to remove an unknown mass, which they later determined that the mass was a congential cystic neuroblastoma. And that's just the beginning of what this baby went through.

I would like to encourage you to read more about their story on my post HERE.

And read more about their daughter Harper's Story on their St. Jude Heroes page HERE

If you would like to give to my St. Jude Heroes fund click on This Link.

I would love to be able to do MORE because every bit helps these families!!!!! Crossing this finish line will mean a whole lot more to me knowing I gave my all for these children! Having St. Jude families their to cheer us on will give us the push we need to know if these children can do it so can we! We will only go through hours of pain, many of these children suffer through so much more. I will be thinking and praying for little Harper while I am out there running Saturday. A huge THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all of you who have donated so far to this cause! You are appreciated!

So the St. Jude Marathon will be my 3rd marathon in 56 days. I know crazy huh! Completing 3 marathons within 90 days is the criteria needed to join a crazy group called "The Marathon Maniacs"

And the 3 marathons in 90 days will only get me in at entry level:

BRONZE LEVEL

2 Marathons within a 16 day time frame.

3 Marathons within a 90 day time frame.

It goes all the way up to Titanium level which I know you want to know what you have to do to get there:

TITANIUM LEVEL

52 Marathons or more within 365 days.

30 Marathons in 30 US states, Countries, or Canadian Provinces (any combination) within 365 days.

20 Countries within 365 days.

Quite the Humor:

Marathon and ultramarathon training and racing can also be a highly addictive sport, especially when trying to achieve a higher star level in the Insane Asylum. Not only can there by physical setbacks, but mental, psychological, social and financial setbacks as well. The Marathon Maniacs will not be responsible for any of the above conditions incurred by you. Examples of these, but not limited to, the following actions:

On the verge or getting into financial ruin, including bankruptcy, by participating in so many marathons

Loss of a significant other, due to your addiction in this sport

Neglect of your residence (inside and outside, especially the yard) because of your constant absence due to participating in marathons

Any damage to personal property due (or property of others) when driving to and from events, especially when you’re tired and have to drive quite a distance to another marathon the day after you completed one (or the same day!)

Withdrawal symptoms when you can’t participate in events due to injury, special engagements, family functions, costs, etc.

11/26/2014

Forgive me I couldn't think of a awesome title for this post because I was all over the place on this one.

Monday: 6 Mile run. I was suppose to go swim after but had not been feeling well that morning and after my run I defiantly decided it was a no go.

I lied it was 6.01 cuz that .1 counts you know. Trying to add more hilly routes in prep for my next marathon. As if a few weeks of hills will make or break my race at this point. Hey can't hurt to try.

You will notice my cadence in the last picture. 171. Not so awesome. Cadence is the number of times your foot strikes the ground in a given time period, usually 1 min. Its said that optimal cadence is around 180. My average lately is between 171-176. I am trying to improve mine as I have been told many times my stride is too long, and I heel strike. Basically I waste energy and am prone to more injury's due to the slow, heavy force with each impact that happens when my foot strikes. So I am a work in progress...arn't we always.

Tuesday: Spin class. Its been a LONG time. I miss spin class! I feel like spin class helped my leg turnover in running so I am excited to be able to add that back into my routine right now.

Sweaty bathroom selfies, classy I know.

I visited my daughter's school for lunch. I was a happy mommy when I arrived and saw my daughter eating...a salad!

Its as if I did my job as a mom. Everything is complete, my child is eating her veggies unforced. I am thankful when my children make healthy choices.

Like mother like daughter

Did quick grocery shopping trip before I had to head back to school for little Thanksgiving party in my son's class. Got all my Thanksgiving goodies so I didn't have to shop like the day before. Picked up these two finds...

Both were good. Just need to make my own next time, probably a lot cheaper. I will admit I am a convenience person when it comes to eating. Sometimes I prefer to pay the price to have someone else make it for me because I'm lazy. I just feel like I have ton of other things I would rather be doing like training, spending time with my kids, cleaning my messy house, not creating more mess. I hate the dishes mess that comes with cooking. So yes I guess I'm lazy and need to get over it. I love baking, just not cooking as much. So yes I will always choose some convenience things vs homemade. But I do need to get a little better esp when it comes to choices for my health.

I decided to make a pre-Thanksgiving day feast at our house Tuesday night with ham and the fixings.

'

Thankful for quiet moments like this with my family.

Less then two weeks away from my next marathon I am doing whatever I can to stay healthy before the big day. I love this stuff!

Wednesday:Another sweaty spin class. This one was at least twice as sweaty as yesterday and burned twice as many calories! We did a lot of "Hills" and sprints this time.

I feel like I got in a "zone" today while spinning. I miss that! I stayed a few minutes after class and spinned on my own and it was amazing. I could have kept going and going but its taper time so I don't want to be pushing my workouts too much.

I refueled with a beet-carrot-apple juice from 9 fruits located right inside our YMCA.

The kids love going to our YMCA! They haven't gotten a chance to go in a few months as I have been doing my long runs on Saturdays since marathon training.

Kids enjoyed playing in the leaves out front before we headed out to the movies.

I am thankful for a camera to be able to capture sweet moments with my kids.

Since Russ was working late we decided to go to the movies and see "The BoxTrolls". I am thankful to have a cheaper theater around our area that we can go to without paying an arm and leg to go to. No its not the Ritz but we don't mind, its made it possible for us to be able to afford to go see movies a lot more.

I saw this workout on facebook and I thought hmm, day after Thanksgiving??? Who's in?!?!

Tomorrow morning I will be trying a new class with my friends at Orange Theory Fitness and I will be running a few miles after. Then its feast time! Can't wait to spend the day with family and friends!

Have I told you already how thankful I am for running!

I am super thankful for the friends it has brought into my life. For the moments when I am out running and I feel free and limitless. Running has giving me joy through progress and hard work. The amazing feeling when I think I have reached my limit and then push beyond that. I love the fact that running has no boundries. There can always be progression, always another step forward. Runners come from different backgrounds, male/female, all ages, have different interests, yet for a moment we can all untite for the purpose of running. The moments when I run a race, esp one like Chicago when there are thousands of people, and I see all the people around me, were all so different in many ways and yet were all here to do the same thing, run. That brings the bigggest warmth over my heart!!!

Runners, we need acountablitly. So thankful I have found that in my running groups!

11/06/2014

And then I was starving so I treated myself to lunch. Time to start carb-loading for Saturday! You don't have to beg me to do that! Blue-Coast Burrito! Chicken chorizo tacos, chips & Guac, fruit tea and a chocolate-chip caramel cookie(saving that for tomorrow).

After that I headed to Dick's Sporting Goods to check out some new goggles for the pool. I hope to start swimming 1-2x a week and especially as cross-training after my races when I am still recovering. I tried a pair of Aqua Sphere, Vista, I believe, goggles on at the Ironman expo last week and loved the wider fit of them. Still having issues with my old goggles fogging and leaking so I wanted to try something different and I heard lots of great reviews on these.

Also picked up some quest bars, my favorite treat when I am needing protien and sweets! And hand wamers for waiting at the start of my marathon Saturday.

All that shopping made me hungry again! And then because I practully drooled on the screen of my iphone when I read my friend Jen's Blog this morning, I had to get me some of that carrot cake! Oh to realize the place she spoke of was like 2 miles away was BLISS!

That slice of cake was HUGE! More for tomorrow!!! YIPPPEE!

I got home and warmed it up like the waitress said and OH MY! DELISH!

After I picked up the kids from school we ran to the grocery store to pickup ingrediants for dinner. We decided on shrimp alfredo and garlic bread. While I was there I decided to pick up a treat/award for Saturday after I finish my marathon. Two of my favorite ice-cream!!! Oh man I can't wait!

And I had to get this magazine!

I can't wait to try some of these recipes!

Tomorrows plan: Race Expo!!! And Carb-load of course!

What is your favorite ice-cream flavor??? Best swim goggles you have found???

Because I am scared to death of dogs chasing me having been bit by one when I was younger.

So yesterday morning my kids had dentist appointments before school.

In case you don't like your kids to have all the Halloween candy that they worked so hard roaming the streets for hours to collect, our dentist will buy back your children's candy! WHAT?!?! They said a lot of the times they will donate the candy to the troops or something like that. The only thing I don't get about that is why is ok then to let the adults get the candy and get cavities. So like a bad mom I let my kids keep their candy. They only get like 2 pieces a day and honesty after a while they get tired of it. And believe me dad and mom help themselves to the cavities in a bag too. So yes give me the #1 bad mom award if you must.

And if that wasn't bad enough after my kids teeth cleaning I took them to Dunkin Donuts for a hot chocolate and breakfast sandwich. Yeah more sugar! Your talking to the girl whos family said she would open a candy store when she grew up. I try to balance my sweets with healthy. Coffee is my splurge for sure. This morning was a vanilla latte.

Last night was NRC night!(Nolensville Running Club). One of my favorite runs of the week. It was a soggy wet one but we got it done. Last run before my next marathon on Saturday, Nashville Marathon. Reunited with two of my favorite MARATHONER running buddies before the run!

Nice 4 mile taper run

Can't believe I am about to run another marathon just 3 weeks after Chicago! I feel like this once won't even get close to comparing to the excitement of Chicago so I hope it all turns out ok. This once will have hills so I am not sure time wise how I will do but I will try my best.

11/05/2014

Last week I headed down to Florida with my friend Annapurna and a bunch of her family & friends to watch her compete in Panama City Beach, Florida Ironman.

IRONMAN: A 2.4 mile swim, an 112 mile bike ride, finishing off with a marathon run of 26.2 miles. All that in one day! And still with cutoff times at each section.

Florida!

Get ready for lots of beach pictures!

I did a run by myself the day after we arrived, along with a shakeout run with my friend.

And then we went to the expo that afternoon

Friday I decided to do my long run since we realized I wouldn't be able to pace her for the 13ish miles we had origanally planned due to rules saying pacers were not allowed. I sure didn't want to risk her being disqualified. I was tapering for Nashville Full the following weekend so I only had 10 miles to do.

It was a beautiful run!

We walked down to the beach Friday night to watch the sunset and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

Friday night was Halloween in Florida. It was so hard being away from my kids that day. We took the kids who were with us trick or treating at a local mall. Can't get over this costume one of the boys had on!

And I had to get this picture for my kids!

While we were out getting the loot so were my kids back in TN.

Can you guys which ones are my kids???

And...

I volunteered in the women's transition change tent early Saturday morning which meant I would be there to help the women change out of their wetsuits after the swim into their running clothes.

I got this shirt and free breakfast for helping, and for volunteering at this race I could have gotten guaranteed entry into next years race...yeah let me wait a bit on that one!

Well the weather decided to throw us a spin when we woke up to super cold, windy weather, and strong rip tides in the ocean.

The officals decided for safety reasons to call off the swim due to strong rip tide and wind advisory. The transition area became chaos. People were confused on the details on what to do next but eventully a lot of people were stuck sitting around as they waited to go out on the bike. I ended up helping answer lots of questions and organized gear bags. It was a time trial send off on bikes basied on numbers.

While all this was going on in Florida another one of my good friends, Shyla was running her FIRST marathon in Indiana. She ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. And she rocked it!

My favorite photo of us from an NRC night.

I ended pacing my friend Annapurna for about 6 total miles of her run that day. We decided if I just jumped in for a little bit at a time it was probably ok. I saw other people doing it too. I jumped in for about a mile the first time just to check on her and see if she needed anything. Then about 5 miles the second time. Poor girl had caught a cold earlier that week and I'm sure that didn't make things any easier. But shes a tough one!

The weather was so cold and windy! Not what you expect when you sign up for Florida esp when just 2 days before it was so beautiful out.

She finished with a great total time of 10:32:58, a 4:01 marathon! I can't image a 4hr marathon after an 112 mile bike ride. She placed 715/2680, NICE! Oh and she did that all even with a cold! Yeah thats my girl!

I gotta say my friend Annapurna inspires me! I probably would have never believed in myself to sign up for a 50k without her, or to even think I could do a triathlon someday. Watching what she has accomplished has pushed me to try harder and aim bigger. Love ya girl!!!! Thank you for all the support and belief you have put in me. Because of you I believed I could and I ran a 50k and a marathon(and yes in that order!) and I am getting ready next week to run another! Come December when I finish my third marathon in 90 days I can become a Marathon Manic member, who would have thought?!?!

PART of our Annapurna Ironman crew!

The Ironman obviously inspired me because my run was rocking the day after I got home! 5 miles at 8:19 pace.

I also went to the pool for a quick 400 meters.

I haven't been to the pool in months and I could tell. I need to go on a regular basis. So my plan is now to go 1-2x a week. I am also going to start adding back in spin classes until I can get a road bike. I want to do a sprint triathlon someday and if I like it work my way up from there.

I'm always starving after I swim so I stopped at the Juice Bar to get me some lunch!

10/16/2014

10 mins down the street and my kids already have their electronics going. Although I can't blame them I am just as bad on my phone and facebooking.

Started my carb- loading..

Passed the time listening to the Marathon Training Academy podcast on Mental Toughness. Defiantly what I was needing before the marathon.

We arrived Friday night to my Aunt & Uncles in Rockford IL. We got to see them as well as my cousin, my older brother and his wife and my nephew, and my grandparents!

My grandma Na-Na and I!

Carb-Loading was in full swing that evening. Yes I ate the pasta AND the pizza.

And I MAY have had some ice-cream from my favorite ice-cream truck back home...

Ice-cream is full of carbs right?

Saturday-The Expo

More carbs for breakfast!

And then we were off to CHICAGO!!!!! EXPO TIME!!!

Made sure to start drinking my Gatorade

I got a temporary tattoo from the Nike pace team for my 4 hour goal.

Note to self: Pull off the plastic backing when you are half asleep at 4am trying to apply it, thus it is stuck to the paper and was no good, MAJOR BUMMER :(

I wore the 4 hour bib on the back of my tank.

I got this cool iphone case with the marathon route for signing up!

Picked up my race bib!

Signed my name on this...

And took more pictures

My $185 race shirt. Chicago registration was so expensive.

I bought a travel coffee mug which I will use like everyday.

And I bought this shirt..

AND...

.....Wait for it.....

.....................................

The black zip up jacket I had been eyeing online all week!!!

It has the date down the side of the arm...

AND, FINGER HOLES!!!! MY FAVORITE!

ME

After the expo we were headed to dinner where we had made reservations, only to get stuck in traffic in which we moved 2 1/2 miles in 1 hour. So we missed our reservation. Ugh Not good.

Note to self: Allow more time getting place to place.

I was very frustrated because I wasn't sure what we were going to do as a backup plan so we decided to head to the hotel instead and then walk downtown after to try and find something.

We passed the Hilton on the way which was the official headquarters hotel for the race.

A bunch of restaurants and shops had signs up already in support of the race.

Chicago has some beautiful buildings

Our hotel was not too far from the Hilton. We stayed at the Sofitel on Chestnut St. About 1 1/2 miles from the start line in Grant Park.

Really nice hotel. Ella kept saying, "Mom were so fancy here".

Her faces in these two pictures, priceless.

Jayson decided he would much rather test out the toliet. Classy.

And because you must know details like what the bathroom looked like.

All I cared about was that they had a bathtub for later epsom salt bath soaking

Even at a hotel the room didn't stay clean for even 5 min before the kids were jumping on the beds and having a pillow fight, which we do encourage they do at hotels. Tell me I am not the only parents who does that.

We were on the 14th floor. Here is our view from the window.

It was getting late and I was getting hungry so we headed out to hunt down somewhere to eat. We stepped into a few places who told us the wait would be 2 hours! Yeah think 45,000 participants plus some of the 1.7 million spectators in town to eat their carb dinner. Yeah we weren't having very good luck and with 2 crabby kids and a hungry marathoner, we had to figure out something quick. We finally found this BBQ place and the wait was only 45 min, yeah ONLY 45 min, last time I will say that eating out. But our table got called quicker then expected and we were seated in about 25 min, SCORE!

I quickly scanned the menu having no idea if they would even have anything I could eat for pre-race meal. Remember this rule: Never eat anything new on race day, NEVER.

I see some pastas but they are covered in like cheese sauces, like mac & cheese and I don't do a lot of dairy the day before so that was out. Finally I see a baked potato, SCORE! I have eaten that before a few races and it did great. That is what I had the night before the women's 1/2 marathon a few weeks ago. And because I knew I couldn't just eat a potato I saw some skillet cornbread and ordered that. Guess what that WAS something new to eat, but I was praying for the stomach God's to accept it because I just NEEDED FOOD NOW!

Then we did a little downtown browsing before heading back to the hotel

The kids said this was the "Swiss Cheese" horse

We went in to browse at the American Girl store for Ella

And The Lego store for Jayson

And were I wanted to go,

Garret Popcorn

And the last place we stopped was right across from the hotel, a little tea shop. The kids wanted to play the piano outside. Note to self was to try that tea before we left Chicago.

Shortly after we get back to the hotel there is a knock on the door and I open it to receive this...

I felt like royalty lol

But I also had another wave of gratefulness. And anotherI can't believe I am here about to do thismoments. I had a LOT of those moments leading up to the trip and especially while we were there in Chicago. I felt so blessed to be there. I was about to run my first road marathon,

THE CHICAGO MARATHON!

I laid out my race gear before bed and that was it. Race day awaits. Bedtime!